Causes, effects, and prevention of teenage pregnancy among students in senior high schools in the agona west municipality in the central region, Ghana

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to examine the causes, effects, and prevention of teenage pregnancy among students in Senior High Schools in the Agona West Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. Four research questions guided the study. The study employed cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The target population of the study consisted of all third year Senior High School (SHS) students (1,370) in Agona West Municipality during the 2013/2014 academic year. A sample size of 300 students was selected for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the research data. It was concluded that teenage pregnancy is mainly caused by lack of education on the causes, effects and prevention of the phenomenon. It was also concluded that negative peer group influence and poverty can lead to teenage pregnancy. It was observed from the study that the main source of education on teenage pregnancy is the parents. Furthermore, it was observed that poverty is one of the effects of teenage pregnancy. It was recommended that parents should ensure proper supervision and monitoring of their children. Parent should give their children appropriate sex education and sanction them when necessary. Sex education should be taught as a stand-alone subject instead of being integrated into other subjects such as religious and moral education as is found in the current curriculum. This will help broaden the scope of teenage pregnancy education and also increase the time allocated for its teaching and creating room for parents and other resource persons to share their rich experiences with the school children.